AAR-AFHF, OKC Gun Club, 25-26 June 2011
AAR-Aim Fast Hit Fast, Oklahoma City June 25-26, 2011.
Intro: This is my second AAR on PTF. This is also the second time I have taken this class.
My primary goal was to figure out how fast was too fast for me in terms of shooting speed, accuracy and manipulations. My secondary goals were to “break in” a new Gen 3 G35 and evaluate the Tango Down slide release. This was my second pure shooting class as opposed to a tactical pistol/rifle class. I have taken handgun classes at Thunder Ranch, Gunsite, Rangemaster and APT and well as rifle classes with EAG (Pat Rogers) and the KCPD. I have trained with a plethora of agents and agencies in both my personal and professional capacities
Venue: The Oklahoma City Gun Club, just north of the city proper, right off of I-35. This is an outdoor shooting complex with multiple ranges from 10 to 600 yards. It is clear that this excellent club is constantly being improved and updated. We were on a brand new 25 yard range with a concrete pad covered by a weatherproof awning. It is so new that running water bathrooms have yet to be install there though there were others close by.
Conditions: This was a Sat/Sun class running from 0800 to 1700 both days. The weather was extremely hot and breezy with highs of 106. Because of the experience level of the instructor, class host, and the students themselves, everyone stayed hydrated, sun screened and in the shade between relays. Less experienced personnel could easily had suffered heat illness in the conditions. As a result, the round count was in the 1000 round range. Under more optimal conditions, I am sure the round count would have exceeded the advertised 1200 round count.
Class Strengths: My training goals were met. I was given the tools to run the platform at my desired intersection of speed/accuracy with perfect practice. Drills and lessons taught included: safety, stance, grip, trigger control, follow thru, accuracy diagnostics, speed diagnostics, sight deviation, sight tracking, “press outs”, “bursts”, reloads, support hand only, strong hand only, movement and multiple targets. It should be noted that the overall skill level of the class was quite high. Many of the students had trained with Todd on previous occasions. Virtually all of the students had formal training beyond a basic class. There was no “That” guy in the class.
From the safety perspective, Todd was insistent the we all do a “hard break”, i.e. bring the pistol back to a retention or ready position and take a few seconds to just stop all movement, before reholstering our pistols. Based on my training with Todd and Tom Givens in the last 2 years,
I have taken it a step further and actually sweep my support hand thru the top of my holster to make sure there are no impediments to reholstering before using my support hand to fully clear the cover garment out of the way and orienting my muzzle downward into the “cleared” holster. While my reholstering technique may be optimized for AIWB carry, I suspect it could be applied to any waist worn holster configuration with the exception of SOB.
The teaching approach was that of building blocks, first the accuracy, then some speed, while increasing the distance and increasing/shrinking the target size as appropriate. 100% accuracy was ultimately the standard for low probability targets i.e. 2 inch circles or 3 x5 note cards, 90% accuracy was ultimately the standard for high probability targets i.e. 6 or 8 inch circles. We were encouraged to go as fast as possible while still being safe and then as fast as possible while maintaining those accuracy standards.
Todd’s FAST Test (http://pistol-training.com/fastest) was a highlight of the course. While at least two of the students have done two sub 5 second runs in a row outside of class, no one was able to do so during the class. Spencer Keepers, the class host, shot a sub 5 sec run and was the only “expert” in the class. Seven of the fourteen students in the AFHF class shot sub 7 sec runs to earn “advanced” ratings. I managed a 6.68 clean. I clearly got outside my lane with my last run of 5.01 missing both a head and a body. I suspect that a 6.00 to 6.25 sec. time is probably most representative of my abilities if I do everything that I am supposed to do.
Notably, we had a number of law enforcement officers in the class to include a local reserve deputy, the Rangemaster/Lead Firearms Instructor for the KCPD, one of his assistant instructors, a FAM and a very experienced Sgt.( Active SWAT, former detective, DT instructor, FTO etc) with the Tulsa PD. All of the municipal officers shot every round both days in full duty gear which included: a retention holster, secured mag pouches, flashlight cases, handcuff cases, pepper spray cases, key keepers, baton rings etc. Both the KCPD Rangemaster and the TPD Sgt. shot advanced FAST Test scores under those conditions. Indeed, the high student score on a movement drill and the “Triple Nickel” was earned by the KCPD Rangemaster.
The instruction was excellent. Todd demonstrated every drill to standard and shot the FAST Test sub 5.0 using his Gen4 “Gadget” equipped G17 under polo shirt carrying AIWB. (http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.p...adget-REVEALED )
Todd shot enough to show that he can really shoot without it being a distraction. He was exceptional in working the line with each of the 2 relays and offering just the right mix of earned praise with suggestions to improve. I mean this with the utmost respect-Todd has an “answer” for everything he teaches. You may not like or agree with the “answer”, but it is clear that Todd has thought long and hard about his teaching approach, material and methodology. When asking a question, you will get a full explanation as opposed to a “ because I said so” answer. Todd was very approachable during and after class. We had two “class” lunches and a “class” dinner.
Class Development: I would have liked to have had more timed exercises ( beyond the FAST Test, the Triple Nickel and a movement drill) and perhaps even a bit of man on man competition. would have been great as well. I recognize that time and safety (primarily heat related) concerns could impact my desires.
Pistols: I alternated between a new Gen 3 Glock 35 and a well worn Gen 3 Glock 34. Both had been stippled by me. Both had Ameriglo Pro Operators 3 dot sights, fronts sights painted orange and rears blacked with a sharpie such that they still “glowed” in low light. The G34 had the Tango Down Slide Release which works quite well. I plan to add them to all my Glock pistols.
Ammo: .40 cal- 180 CCI Blazer. 9 mm- 147 Remington 147g FP and 124 Berry FP over 4.4 g of 231, mixed brass/winchester primers. I shot around 1000 rounds with about 65 % of the rounds fired being 9mm.
Stoppages: I had a total of two stoppage due to high primers on my reloaded 9mm ammo.
Lubrication: the pistols got a good cleaning the day before the class. I used lithium bearing grease on the them. They went untouched/uncleaned between TD 1 and TD 2.
Eyepro: I used M Series Oakleys and contacts on TD 1 and a set of classic prescription shooting glasses on TD2. Oakley, ESS, Wiley X, Revision and Rudy Project were all represented in class.
Gear: I used a Keepers Kydex AIWB (think a CCC Shaggy with a bit more height and cant) with two CCC OWB mag pouches on a Wilderness 5 stitch 1.5 belt. My concealment garment was an wicking t-shirt from Old Navy or Target.
I always had a total of 5 mags with me on the line- 1 in the gun, 2 on the offside in pouches and two in a cargo pocket on a set of Eddie Bauer nylon convertible travel pants. These were a Godsend given the heat as I could vent the pant legs in between relays. I chose not to “convert” them to shorts given the possibility of post impact bullet splatter. I recognize that my thin nylon pant material is not much protection relative to a Carhart or more tactical pant, but they were certainly much cooler.
Mags: Dedicated training Glock Gen 8 G35 15 round mags and Gen 6 G34 17 round mags. I had zero problems with each set falling free. I did take the time before class to test that and “true” a few of them by the judicious application of a sanding block around the lower mag catch area.
Bottom Line: I cannot stress how important it is to get quality weapons training. Owning a weapon does not mean you can run it anymore than owning a guitar makes you musician. I was able to get quality training within 5 hours drive time of my home with an instructor who is clearly on his way up the power curve. I strongly suspect there will be a day when getting into an AFHF class will be more difficult as Todd’s time will likely be taken up by other entities who will and are recognizing the value of his instruction and training.
Final Thoughts: Uber-Kudos to Spencer Keepers and the OKC Gun Club for being such gracious hosts. Spencer is literally changing the training paradigm in the Midwest. Through his hard work and those of his like-minded training partners, the OKC Gun Club has been the site of multiple top shelf trainers in the last year to include Southnarc, Jason Falla, Tom Givens and others. Spencer and his friends have and continue to work tirelessly to provide meaningful and appropriately challenging training opportunities to the larger shooting community. This is the third time I have traveled from the KCMO area in the last 12 months to take advantage of Spencer’s hosting efforts. I am supremely confident it will not be my last.
